Carleton Launches Urbandale Centre for Home Energy Research

The 1,600-square-foot, two-storey solar-powered house is perched on a low hill at the north end of Carleton’s campus. Inside, long-term research projects are responding to a growing demand for resource sustainable, energy efficient houses. The house will be a test bed for innovative concepts that challenge the traditional way houses are designed and built, with a goal of reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in the Canadian residential sector.

A major project in the house is investigating seasonal thermal storage, or how to store energy collected by the house’s solar panels during the summer and store it for use during the dark winter months. Piping has been installed in a giant insulated underground sandbox to carry heated water into the house to supply most of its hot water and heat. Another system being tested is a cold-climate air-source pump that uses refrigeration technology to extract heat from outside air. Generally ineffective at extremely cold temperatures, the pump in the Carleton project is being pushed to more efficiency by pre-warming the air in buried rock.

Quotes:

“This project combines the expertise of engineers and architects so it’s not only good science, but it’s attractive as well. It’s an interdisciplinary project, and it’s supported by the community.”
– Carleton President Roseann Runte

“CFI is a major supporter of this project. Without their support, this research centre would not be here today.”
– Nimal Rajapakse, vice-president (Research and International)

“This state-of-the-art facility is a place where researchers and industry partners come together to advance our understanding of how we can design our homes to be more sustainable. The ideas they develop will have an enormous impact on Canadian competitiveness and quality of life.”
– Gilles Patry, president, Canada Foundation for Innovation

“We’re very honoured to be part of this project. We hope that over the years the information from this research can be integrated into residential construction.”
– Peter Weiss, general manager, Urbandale Construction

“Canadians use almost as much energy per capita as the highest consuming country in the world. A lot of energy is used in the places we live. Housing is one of areas where we can make a big difference. If we can make our buildings more efficient and make greater use of local renewable energy resources, we can lessen the demand for central energy supplies. That’s what we’re trying to accomplish in this facility.”
– Ian Beausoleil-Morrison, Canada Research Chair in Innovative Energy Systems for Residential Buildings